First, XC times don't matter at all. The only thing about XC that matters for college is your place in big meets (State meet, Mt. SAC sweepstakes, New Englands, etc...) Second, just a rough estimate but in order to run top tier D1 (stanford, oregon) you need sub 4:10 mile, sub 9:00 2 mile.
Cross country races in high school are all 5 kilometers or 3.1 miles. A decent time for a 9th grader is around 19 min flat or a little above.
Middle distances (800-meter, 1500/1600-meter) can add a really helpful dimension to your XC races because they exist at the intersection of sprint speed and aerobic endurance: a 5K benefits from both.
According to the IAAF, an ideal cross country course has a loop of 1,750 to 2,000 metres (1,910 to 2,190 yd) laid out on an open or wooded land.
US college distances: In the United States, cross-country runners race on courses of varying lengths—usually between eight kilometers (a little under five miles) and ten kilometers (a little over six miles) for men and five kilometers to six kilometers (a little under four miles) for women.
Based on what several athletes and coaches have told me, a good “high-mileage” number to shoot for in high school is 45 to 60 miles per week for girls and 60 to 75 miles for boys.
What is overlooked, however, when it comes to cross country is it is one of the hardest sports from a training standpoint, where the actual meet is more of a reward than a challenge, and that it takes a certain breed of person to run the 3.1-mile course, especially when you have to run miles and miles to get ready for ...
Teams consist of five or more runners who all race together at the same time against the other teams. The top five finishers from each team are used for scoring and their finishing places are totaled to see which team wins. The lowest score wins.
Therefore, middle school kids should only be running up to 12.8 miles per week, if they are planning to run in a 10K race. Kids up to age 14 should only run three times per week....Running Recommendations.AgeDistance9-113.2 miles12-146.4 miles15-16Half Marathon: 13.1 miles1719.2 miles2 more rows
Many of you desire to know “the secret” to becoming a great cross-country runner. The secret is very simple. YOU MUST RUN 6-7 DAYS A WEEK ON A CONSISTENT BASIS.
Another reason why cross country is the toughest sport is that even though there is a team component when it comes to scoring meets, cross country is an individual endeavor. You can't rely on one star guard to start draining three-pointers or one dominant bowler to shatter wickets.
The average finishing time was 16:40, but the average first mile was 5:05 or roughly 15:47 pace.
For some, freshman XC is their first team-experience, their first-time with a smart, qualified coach. XC is the healthiest sport. In a world of obesity, XC runners stay lean. The adaptations (RBC count, stroke volume of the heart, ratio of capillaries to muscle fibers, etc) are valued measures of a healthy body.
And now, again, the speedsters from California broke their own record at the national championships this past weekend. Individually, Colin Sahlman's time of 14:03.29 sets the new national record for fastest cross-country 5K for 18 and under boys, shattering the previous record of 14:10.
Basic Rules: Team makeup – A Cross Country team is made of seven runners. The top five runners are the “scoring” members and the remaining two have the important job of displacing the scorers on opposing teams. Only the varsity level is limited to seven competitors in a race, the other levels have unlimited entries.
Cross country is similar to golf in that the lowest score wins. A perfect score is 15 points, with the top five runners occupying the first five finishing positions. While only the top 5 runners “score” for their team, the sixth and seventh placed runners also receive a score.
High school races are usually 3.1 miles long, and junior high races are usually 2 miles long. The courses oftentimes take place at public parks or golf courses and parents are allowed to attend and cheer them on from anywhere on the course.
Cross Country (XC) is a wonderful sport of a lifetime that encourages both individual and team participation and a love for running. If you are a ‘newbie’ parent and have a ‘newbie’ son or daughter that wants to try Cross Country, here are a few things to help you get started:
You can assist by having the proper foods available in the house and planning a proper meal for race day. Avoid fatty and fried foods, and carbonated (soda)or acidic drinks. Encourage small portions of easily digested food eaten about 3 hours before racing. A lot of these foods will be in the form of carbohydrates.
The great thing about cross country at this level is that everyone who tries out for the sport generally gets to compete. Even though the first 7 runners to finish are considered the “scoring team”, everyone still gets to run and try to contribute to the team’s scoring. In most school districts, there are no cuts, and.
Maybe follow along with some of the other parents, as well. During the race , you can move from point to point along the course to cheer the runners as they pass.
The first day of school usually includes the first day of “official” practice, depending on your school system regulations. The first day of practice includes runners of greatly varying experience, talent, and commitment.
Seek out new team members: look for athletes in other sports needing fall off-season training such as soccer, basketball, and swimming.
Volume/weekly mileage isn’t the only concern during this first half of the season . The other major factor is training intensity. During this part of the season, the intensity of every run, but especially hard days should be relatively low to what they will reach later in the season.
Sometimes the runners are referred to as harriers. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands ...
English schools started competing in cross country races in 1837 , and established a national championship on 7 December 1867. It was held on Wimbledon Common in south-west London.
The USA Cross Country Championships, first held in 1890, include six races: masters women (8 km), masters men (8 km), junior women (6 km), junior men (8 km), open women (8 km) and open men (12 km). In addition to crowning national champions, the championships serve as the trials race to select the Team USA squad for the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. The USATF Masters 5 km Cross Country Championships, first held in 2002, incl men's race and a women's race. The USATF National Club Cross Country Championships, first held in 1998, feature the top clubs from across the United States as they vie for honors and bragging rights as the nation's top cross country team. The USATF National Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships, first held in 2001, has raced for boys and girls in five different two-year age divisions.
Over 900 men's cross country teams and over 1000 women's cross country teams compete in the three divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association. Men usually race 10 km (6.2 mi) or 8 km (5.0 mi), and women usually race 6 km (3.7 mi) or 5 km (3.1 mi). Every state offers cross country as a high school sport for boys and girls.
The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method.
Equipment. Cross country running involves very little specialized equipment. Most races are run in shorts and vests or singlets, usually in club or school colours. In particularly cold conditions, long-sleeved shirts and tights can be worn to retain warmth without losing mobility.
World Championships. 1973–. Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. Sometimes the runners are referred to as harriers. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, ...
It provides ten weeks of training, enough to bridge that period between the end of the school year and the beginning of the racing season.
For that reason, you are free to run several road races during the summer, maybe once every fourth week. You don’t need to race on the week I indicated; you don’t even need to race at all. The program ends in the tenth week with a cross-country race, assuming that to be the first race of your season.
5 x 1,000: Run this workout in the weeks after you run the interval 400s: the second, fifth and eighth weeks of the program. This workout is best run on trails, perhaps on sections of your home cross-country course if it is marked in kilometers.
After 5 or 10 minutes of gentle jogging at the start, pick up the pace and surge for maybe 10 or 20 or more seconds, then jog or even walk for a near equal time until partly recovered, then surge again. These speed bursts could be anywhere from 100 to 400 meters, or longer.
Tempo Runs: (Scheduled for Mondays.) A tempo run in this program is a workout of 30 to 45 minutes, usually run on trails or in the woods so you have no reference to exactly how far or how fast you are running. Here’s how to do a tempo run. Begin at an easy pace, about as fast as you would during any warm-up on the track.
After 5 or 10 minutes of gentle jogging, gradually accelerate toward peak speed midway through the workout, holding that peak for 5 or 10 minutes, then gradually decelerate, finishing with 5 minutes of gentle jogging, your cool-down.
Others run free off-season. And even adult runners can benefit from the patterns of a well-designed “harrier” program, whether they race in the woods or not. Regardless of your current status ...
Second, you should be able to keep the aerobic workouts in your training during the early part of the season . This is the best way to ensure that you're running fast at the end of the year.
The summer between your sophomore and junior year, for example, helps you run even more mileage and intensity when the cross-country season ends, and you begin your winter training for your junior year of outdoor track, a season that is crucial for athletes who want to be recruited to run in college. Do the things in the summer that will make you a better runner, not only in the upcoming cross-country season, but in the seasons that follow. Here are five summer training tips for high school runners to help you get started.
1. Don’t start from zero. One of the biggest mistakes high school athletes make in their summer training is starting from ground zero, rather than viewing it as a continuation of the outdoor season.
The summer between your sophomore and junior year, for example, helps you run even more mileage and intensity when the cross-country season ends, and you begin your winter training for your junior year of outdoor track, a season that is crucial for athletes who want to be recruited to run in college. Do the things in the summer that will make you ...
First of all, it will help with pacing. If you know where you are, you know where the hills will be or when to start your final kick to the finish line. You also want to know the course because there’s always a slim chance that you’ll get separated from the pack and need to know your way. You don’t want to run an extra half mile because you went the wrong way, and you certainly don’t want to get disqualified. Know where you’re going!
Cross country is one of three sports I know of that equates low scores to winning. If you finish in 20th place, that’s 20 points for your team. Once the first five runners on your team finish, their place numbers are added up, and there’s your team score. So, if your top five runners were up at the front of the race, that’s a lower score, and that sets you up for a team victory!
Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically 4–12 kilometres (2.5–7.5 mi) long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road and minor obstacles. It is both an individual and a team sport; runners are judged on individual times and teams by a points-scoring method. Both men and wo…
While a course may include natural or artificial obstacles, cross country courses support continuous running, and do not require climbing over high barriers, through deep ditches, or fighting through the underbrush, as do military-style assault courses.
A course at least 5 metres (5.5 yd) full allows competitors to pass others during the race. Clear markings keep competitors from making wrong turns, and spectators from interfering with the c…
Because of differences between courses in running surface, frequency and tightness of turns, and amount of up and downhill, cross country strategy does not necessarily simplify to running a steady pace from start to finish. Coaches and cross country runners debate the relative merits of fast starts to get clear of the field, versus steady pacing to maximize physiological efficiency. Some teams emphasize running in a group in order to provide encouragement to others on the t…
Cross country running involves very little specialized equipment. Most races are run in shorts and vests or singlets, usually in club or school colours. In particularly cold conditions, long-sleeved shirts and tights can be worn to retain warmth without losing mobility. The most common footwear are cross country spikes, lightweight racing shoes with a rubber sole and five or more metal spikes screwed into the forefoot part of the sole. Spike length depends on race conditions…
Formal cross country competition traces its history to the 19th century and an English game called "hare and hounds" or "the paper chase". English schools started competing in cross country races in 1837, and established a national championship on 7 December 1867. It was held on Wimbledon Common in south-west London. It was the first cross country race that was considered "open", or could be run by anyone. Its original purpose was to imitate steeplechase fo…
Beyond championships, IAAF world cross country meetings include the Great Edinburgh International Cross Country, Cross Internacional de Itálica, Antrim International Cross Country, Cinque Mulini, Nairobi Cross, Chiba International Cross Country, Fukuoka International Cross Country meet, Eurocross and Almond Blossom Cross Country.
Cross country running is organized at the state level by the athletics association for each state. I…
• Sport of athletics portal
• Havitz, Mark E., and Eric D. Zemper, "'Worked Out in Infinite Detail': Michigan State College's Lauren P. Brown and the Origins of the NCAA Cross Country Championships," Michigan Historical Review (Spring 2013), 39#1, pp. 1–39.